Manchester United 3-0 Chelsea

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Manchester United 3-0 Chelsea

January 11 2009, Premier League, Old Trafford, Manchester



Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov all scored to see Chelsea suffer a devastating defeat at Old Trafford.

The Serbian defender opened the scoring late on in the first half following Dimitar Berbatov's header from a United corner. Bulgarian striker Berbatov, who signed for United from Tottenham in the summer, added the icing to the cake by netting the host's third goal after Wayne Rooney had volleyed home from close range, beyond the despairing dive of a helpless Petr Cech.

The Blues were disgustingly poor throughout, and failed to notch a single shot on target during the entire match. From lacklustre defending to lazy approach play in the final third, it certainly will be a day to forget for Luiz Felipe Scolari, who face Southend in their FA Cup third round replay in midweek.

Confidence will be at shatter-point in the Chelsea dressing room, who will come to the realisation that should Manchester United win their two games in hand over the Blues, not only will they leapfrog the Blues, but also Premier League leaders Liverpool, and into first position.

The match was an intriguing affair, with the first forty five minutes very tightly-contested in the centre of the park. However, Vidic's opener was the sucker-punch for Chelsea, who conceded yet another goal from a typical set-piece, and did nothing but deflate the Blues and buoy their opponents onto victory. The antics of Didier Drogba throughout were appalling - the Ivorian falling down until minimal pressure, feigning injury, before jumping up in disgust that no free kicks were awarded. To say that the Blues underperformed would be both an understatement and a flattering remark. They were, quite frankly, abysmal.

Despite that, United were brilliant over the duration of the 90 minutes, playing confident football that suggested their title charge is well under way once more. In light of recent comments by Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, that said Sir Alex Ferguson and his side were exempt from the laws of football, the Scot will drive home this evening a very satisfied man.

The first half was entertaining due to the excellent football on show, but both sides seemed to falter in the final thirds. The approach play from both teams, particularly by United, was excellent, but both teams lacked the killer final ball that would open up the opposition defence. The first real chance of the game fell to Chelsea, but Michael Ballack's effort was straight into the wall, and not for the first time this season.

The home side countered dangerously on the half-hour, with Berbatov being set up brilliantly. Shifting the ball onto his left foot from his right, he delicately took Ricardo Carvalho out of the equation, before firing towards goal. The effort lacked the necessary power to test Petr Cech, but the orange-jerseyed goalkeeper was nonetheless called into action.

Nemanja Vidic opened the scorer with a headed goal, but the deficit at the break could have been even greater but for John Terry. The England and Chelsea skipper slid in to deny Park Ji-Sung, who had been teed up brilliantly by Ronaldo's ingenuity - a timely intervention with the Korean about to pull the trigger.

Vidic's goal was somewhat of a soft goal to concede from a Chelsea perspective, especially since a last-minute set-piece goal had gifted Fulham a point in the West London derby at the tail end of 2008. With no player on the post, the Serb was perfectly placed to head home Berbatov's flick-on beyond a stranded Petr Cech. Old Trafford erupted in delight.

Deco - an expensive acquisition from Barcelona who has played in the majority of Chelsea's league games this season yet put in only three decent performances - was substituted at half-time, citing an ankle injury to be the reason for his withdrawal. Whatever the diagnosis, not even the introduction of Premier League top scorer Nicolas Anelka could turn the tide of the game.

Ronaldo's back-heel pass found Evra, who crossed exquisitely from the left for Rooney, who had no problem finding the net from six yards out. The England man ran to the corner flag and kissed the Manchester United emblem. After 62 minutes, United had already beaten Chelsea to a pulp, but they were not finished there.

Cristiano Ronaldo had a brilliant effort from 25 yards fizz just wide of Cech's upright, and a tight offside call saw the winger correctly ruled offside when one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Ronaldo finished, thinking he'd added to the goal count, but Howard Webb was quick to point out the linesman's flag had been raised in the build up.

The World Player of the Year could have had another free kick goal to add to his formidable collection, but Cech did well to tip the ball over after the Portuguese’s effort had deflected off the anonymous Frank Lampard. Berbatov added further woe on 86 minutes, converting from close range from a low Ronaldo free kick, and Chelsea were consigned to their first league defeat of the season away from home.

With 15 points dropped from the last 10 league games, questions will quite rightly be asked of manager Scolari. Is he the right man for the job? The answer, sadly for Big Phil, is no.

___________________________________________________________________

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville, Vidic, Evans, Evra (O'Shea), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Giggs (Carrick), Park, Berbatov, Rooney

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa (Belletti), Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Joe Cole (Di Santo), Lampard, Ballack, Deco (Anelka), Drogba

Attendance: 75,455

[Para6iT 2]

That was the worst ever. 3-0 is really an unexpected. Terry really did a great job as a defender but that was just before a headed goal from Vidic. We got a few chance to score but it was nothing.

honestly Big Phil is not the right man for this job. He's great no doubt but he's not the right man for us, things are getting worst, even Grant is more beter than him. We beat The Red and went to final in CL. If we keep on like this just forget about the title then.

Did you guys see Jose at the stadium?? Or is it just me the one who saw him. I don't have any idea where he's sitting at, but it was great to see him there at England.

[Fulham Broadway 16,962]

That was the worst ever. 3-0 is really an unexpected. Terry really did a great job as a defender but that was just before a headed goal from Vidic. We got a few chance to score but it was nothing.

honestly Big Phil is not the right man for this job. He's great no doubt but he's not the right man for us, things are getting worst, even Grant is more beter than him. We beat The Red and went to final in CL. If we keep on like this just forget about the title then.

Did you guys see Jose at the stadium?? Or is it just me the one who saw him. I don't have any idea where he's sitting at, but it was great to see him there at England.

http://www.talkchelsea.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=3362

I dont think anyone can hold their head high after yesterday - if anyone for me Mikel and Ashley Cole played well. Why did Terry duck for Rooneys goal ? But the general malaise is because of a lack of togetherness, motivation and desire imo.